Crypto lender Celsius Network pauses all withdrawals, transfers

Leading crypto lender Celsius Network has announced to pause all withdrawals, swap and transfers between accounts due to "extreme market conditions".

The decision led to a nearly 55 per cent crash in the price of its digital token 'CELL' to as low as 19 cents.

"We are taking this action today to put Celsius in a better position to honour, over time, its withdrawal obligations," the crypto lender said in a statement late on Sunday.

Celsius Network is a Blockchain-based lending platform that is accessible through a free mobile app.

"Acting in the interest of our community is our top priority. In service of that commitment and to adhere to our risk management framework, we have activated a clause in our Terms of Use that will allow for this process to take place. Celsius has valuable assets and we are working diligently to meet our obligations," the company said.

It said that the decision is taken in order to stabilise liquidity and operations "while we take steps to preserve and protect assets".

Celsius was valued at $3.25 billion in November last year.

According to its website, the CEL token promises "actual financial rewards", as much as 30 per cent extra returns weekly. It is unclear what triggered the latest decline.

Since Terra's failure, demand for high-yielding lending instruments has taken a hit.

The shocking implosion of the TerraUSD and Luna cryptocurrencies threw many investors into a panic last month, some of them saying their entire assets were blown up or even leaving suicidal messages.

In a crash, the once bullish TerraUSD and sister coin Luna had lost almost all their value, sending shock waves across the world.